Voters greener than Rudd on climate change

Voters are keener to take action on climate change than the federal government, which has shelved its emissions trading scheme.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Tuesday announced the ETS would be delayed until 2013 at the earliest, blaming the lack of international action on global warming, along with the Senate for blocking the scheme.

But a Lowy Institute poll of 1000 people found 72 per cent thought Australia should reduce greenhouse gas emissions before a global deal was struck.

And almost half said Australia should start acting on climate change now even if that involved significant costs.

Only 13 per cent wanted a delay in action that involved economic costs.

Those results were similar when the same questions were asked last year, despite the prominence of climate scepticism in the wake of December's failed Copenhagen climate summit.